The Ninth Floor (13 page)

“I always
wanted a dog.”

“Let me guess,
and a roommate too.”

He laughed. “Maybe.”

“Why didn’t
you get one?”

“A roommate?”

“A dog.”

“My parents
were allergic, and then I was in medical school. It’s only now my hours are
regular enough that I can even think about pets.”

“That was the
first thing I did when I got my own place. I’m excited to get them back.”

The rest of
lunch went well. Talking about pets, music, and movies took my mind off of
worry for a while. We cleared our table and walked back to the stairwell. I was
enjoying my time with Jack, but more and more I was thinking of him as a friend
and not really as a boyfriend.

On our way
back to the tenth floor, I paused on ninth’s landing and stared at its locked
doors, feeling their pull as if they were calling to me. I didn’t just want to
see what was on the other side. For some reason, I
needed
to. I would
find a way to get in there. Soon.

At 7:45 p.m. there was a knock on
my door. Jack was smiling on the other side. Before I could say hello, he
wrapped his arms around me and kissed me until I was out of breath. I pulled
back and pushed the door closed. Jack’s mouth trailed down the side of my neck.
“Seducing me isn’t taking things slow, Dr. Sadler.”

He moved to
the other side of my neck. “I’m not seducing you.”

The warmth
spreading through me disagreed. “What exactly are you doing then?”

He grinned. “Donor
cultivation.”

I laughed. “You’re
here to work.” I wagged my finger at him.

He held his
hands up innocently. “I live to serve.”

I wrapped my
arms around his neck to kiss him one more time, but the door opened behind us
and Vivian and Blair charged in.

“Whoa,
awkward,” Blair said, looking in the other direction. Vivian smiled from ear to
ear.

I cleared my
throat and straightened my shirt, my cheeks burning. Oh, the joys of having a
roommate. “Vivian, this Jack Sadler, Bee’s doctor.”

“It’s nice to
finally meet you, Jack—may I call you Jack?”

“Sure.” He
shook her hand. “It’s good to meet you too, Vivian. Hello, Blair.” Jack nodded,
not at all embarrassed by getting caught.

“What are you two
up to?” I narrowed my eyes at Vivian.

“We’re getting
the last load of boxes out of the kitchen,” Blair said. “Bee really needs to
start throwing shit away.”

I laughed. “No
doubt. Jack and I are painting tonight—a—”

“Oh, so that’s
what you call it?” Vivian said with a suggestive smirk.

I shook my
head but smiled as I continued like she hadn’t interrupted me. “I take it the
paint stored in that room,” I pointed to the door farthest from mine, “is the
one you want?”

Vivian nodded
enthusiastically. “Wait until you see the color. It’s gorgeous. I have the room
all taped already, ready to go.”

“Great, then
all we need is a kitchen and it’ll be a real life apartment.”

“We should
hire someone for that,” Vivian said.

I looked at
the cabinets half falling in and the small, cramped area. “You’re probably
right.”

Jack tilted
his head. “I think we could probably handle the kitchen.”

I wrinkled my
nose, but Blair hopped in. “I agree with Jack. You ladies step aside. Let the
men handle it.”

I laughed and
Vivian rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “After we drop off the boxes, we’ll stop
and grab take out for dinner. Then Blair and Jack can tackle the kitchen since
they insist, and I’ll help you paint.”

“Sounds good.”

Jack and I
helped load Blair’s truck. “Should we get to work?” he asked as we came back
inside.

“Yeah,
probably.” I ran my hand down his arm, determined he could help me forget
Briggs if I just gave him a chance. “Thank you for helping me.”

“It’s purely
selfish.”

“How’s that?”

“The sooner
you’re comfortable here, the sooner you’ll let me take you out on real dates.”
His arms snaked back around me.

“I’m more of a
homebody.”

“Home is fine.”
He let his hands drift down my sides and rested his forehead against mine.

“You’re pretty
confident. I might just be using you for home improvement.”

“Use away. I’ll
win you over eventually. No woman can resist a man who’s good with a hammer.”

Jack and I
were rolling a lovely deep plum color onto Vivian’s accent wall when Blair
stuck his head into the room, a perplexed expression on his face.

“Do you know
what a Briggs is?”

I froze
mid-stroke. “Why?”

“Dad texted to
say there’s one waiting for you at the house.”

I looked over
at Jack, but he carefully avoided my eyes. Shit. Why couldn’t Briggs just do
what I asked? “Did he mention whether he had two German Shepherds with him?”

Blair typed
quickly with his thumbs, and a couple seconds later his phone beeped. “Yeah, he
has dogs. Ryan, who’s Briggs?”

“No one. Will
you excuse us for a second, Blair?”

Blair shrugged
and walked out.

“You have to
go, I know,” Jack said.

“I’ll be right
back.”

“Do you want
me to come with you?”

I caught my
lip between my teeth. “No. It will go faster if you don’t.”

Jack sighed
but nodded.

I squeezed his
hand. “Thank you for understanding.”

We walked out
of the room, and I washed the paint off my hands before grabbing my keys. “I
have to run out to Mom and Dad’s. You guys go ahead and eat without me.”

“I’ll come
with you,” Vivian volunteered, jumping up.

I almost
protested, but Jack looked relieved at the thought of someone else being there,
so I didn’t object. My brain whirled as I drove towards their house. What the
hell was Briggs doing? Why was he at my
parents’
house?

“I’ll kill
him,” I muttered.

“So you and
DROMG are pretty hot and heavy, huh?”

“What are you
talking about?”

“Dr. Oh My
God.”

“You’re
talking in text now? Seriously?”

“Dr. Feel
Good?”

“From texting
to Mötley Crüe.” I shook my head.

Vivian tilted
her head. “Dr. Everything Gonna Be Alright.”

This time I
did laugh. “Hey, the artist formerly known as Vivian, can’t you think of any
names that aren’t from songs?”

“Sure. Dr.
Hottie, Dr. Sexy, Dr. Love, Dr. Mc—”

“Ah, ah, ah.
No Mc-anything, thank you very much.”

“What do you
want to call him?”

“Jack.”

“You’re no
fun.”

“I try.”

“So the
ex-boyfriend is hanging out with your parents. Yikes.”

“I don’t know
what his deal is. You’d think after breaking my heart he’d have the decency to
drop off the face of the earth.”

The frazzled
maid answered our knock, and the sound of two huge dogs barking and barreling
toward us made her jump aside. I knelt down to greet them. “Sid, Nancy. Have you missed me, babies? I’ve missed you.” I nuzzled against the dogs as they
licked and pawed at me.

When I finally
stood back up, Vivian looked astonished. “You said you had dogs, not horses.”

“They’re
babies. Vivian, this is Sid,” I pointed to the one on the left, “and Nancy.”

The dogs
tilted their heads at her and waited to be adored. Vivian patted each of them
but didn’t look overly thrilled. The distinctive sound of my mother’s heels
clicking across the marble floor made me look up. She was flanked by Briggs and
my father.

“Ryan, dear,
it was so fortunate we were home tonight. We’ve had such a nice visit with
Briggs.”

I smiled
tightly. “I’m glad to hear it. I have to go. Thanks for accompanying the dogs,
but you really didn’t have to.” I turned around and whistled for Sid and Nancy
to follow. They trailed behind me to the car where I opened the back door and
the two of them squeezed into the backseat.

“That was
rude.” Briggs’ voice made my spine stiffen.

“You have a
lot of nerve.” I whirled around, brimming with anger. “I told you not to come.
You don’t have any right to be here. If I remember correctly, you broke up with
me via a letter on the door telling me you moved out and not to call. You won’t
even talk to me about it. This was all your choice, your doing. Stay the hell
out of my life.” I accented “your doing” by poking him on his chest.

“I’m ready to
talk.”

“Yeah, well, I
don’t care anymore. There’s nothing to talk about. We’re over.” I got in the
car and Vivian rushed to get in the other side. We rode in silence until we
were nearly back to my apartment.

“Wow,” Vivian
breathed.

I shook my
head.

“I don’t know
what he did, but it must’ve been bad because he is hot. I mean, the doctor is
cute, but he is—” She fanned herself.

“I don’t want
to talk about Briggs, Viv.”

Vivian was
quiet, but I had trouble getting him out of my mind anyway. He
was
hot.
He had black hair that was wavy and worn back from his face. His strong jaw was
peppered with a permanent five-o’clock shadow—and he had the most startling,
knee-buckling blue eyes I had ever seen. Jack was handsome, but Briggs was
gorgeous.

Vivian, the
dogs, and I trudged upstairs to the apartment. The dogs ran room to room,
checking things out, while we ate dinner. Everyone talked and laughed, but I
couldn’t focus on the conversation. Old pain had been churned back up. Why did
he have to come here?

The dogs
finally settled down on either side of my chair while I stared at my plate.
After dinner, Vivian dragged Blair out with the excuse she was tired and needed
a ride home, but I knew she was giving me space. Jack drifted out to the
balcony where he sat in one of the lawn chairs and tried to tug me down onto
his lap. I pulled away, leaned on the railing, and stared at the hospital in
the distance, both mesmerized and repelled by it.

“That bad,
huh?”

“It stirred up
a lot.”

Jack stroked
my hair, tugging on a loose curl. I looked back at him. “I don’t know what I’m
doing anymore.”

“The same
thing you were doing before—I hope.”

“And what was
that?”

“Moving on.”

I was about to
nod when I saw a room on the ninth floor light up. “Do you see that?” I asked,
pointing towards the hospital.

Jack squinted,
his face creasing in a frown. “That’s weird.”

“It’s a lot
more than
weird
. The floor is supposedly sealed off. How in the world is
a light coming on? Everything about that place is suspicious.”

He laughed and
shook his head. “It’s the ghost.”

“Are you
joking?”

Jack rubbed
the stubble along his jaw. “I don’t know what’s happening there, but I also don’t
care. What I do want to know is what’s happening in here.” He tapped my head.

“Why do you
keep telling Bee she’s dreaming this stuff up and blaming it on her illness
when it might be the hospital?”

“I just
suggest more logical possible scenarios—so sue me. Do you think she’d feel
better to have it confirmed that the ghosts can smell death on her?”

I shook my
head, trying to wrap my mind around his last comment. Bee’s practical,
scientific doctor was telling me there could be more to the creepy story. “How
do you know the hospital’s safe? I’ve asked you twice, directly, if I should
move her, and you said no.” I was fighting hard to keep from getting angry.

“A few lights
flicker, there’s an odd sighting or whisper reported …So what? It really isn’t
anything to freak out about.”

“You swear
they will not hurt her?”

“ Ghosts aren’t
going to hurt your aunt, Ryan.” He twined fingers through mine. “Bee is already
fighting for her life. She doesn’t need the extra stress of worrying about a
ghost, and honestly, neither do you.”

I tapped my
foot, my mind still reeling. To have such a strong confirmation made my stomach
knot.

Jack traced my
lower lip with his fingertip. My eyes met his. “Come back inside.” He tilted
his head towards the apartment.

I glanced back
to the hospital. The light was off again. I wondered if that light was for me.
Did the hospital somehow know I was watching it at exactly that moment? I
sighed—a crazy thought, that’s what that was. I let him lead me back inside.
Sid and Nancy greeted us with happy doggie smiles. I smiled back at them and
scratched behind their ears as Jack watched on from the couch.

“I love it
when you smile and laugh.”

I looked up,
not sure what to say. It felt like everything was moving so fast with him,
especially with Briggs back in the picture. “Do you?”

Jack patted
the couch beside him.

It would have
been so easy to fall into bed and a relationship with him. Part of me wanted to
do nothing more. The flirting and the teasing and the kissing were all fun, but
it was safe. He couldn’t hurt me the way it was now. Earlier this evening, I’d
considered letting Jack maneuver me into a more serious relationship, but the
reemergence of Briggs had me off kilter—not to mention the freaky hospital.
Once again, Jack and I just seemed like a bad idea.

“I’m tired. I
think I just want to get cleaned up and go to bed.”

He sighed
heavily. “Don’t do this, Ryan. Don’t let him come between us.”

I tugged on my
ear and looked at the ground. “He’s not. I really am tired—and I have a lot on
my mind. What we have is fun, but I don’t know how I feel. I need to be alone
for a few hours.”

He nodded and
kissed my cheek. “Have a good night.”

“You too.”

I closed and
locked the door behind him, showered, and walked around the apartment,
straightening things up. There was a thump on my door. My muscles tensed. I
waited, listening, but couldn’t hear anything else. I looked through the
peephole but saw nothing. After a couple deep breaths, I opened the door.
Another package sat on the doormat.